Editor's Letter October 2011

Joe Lauzon isn’t the kind of guy that would necessarily strike you as a fighter at first glance. He comes from an IT background, and doesn’t carry himself in a particularly imposing manner. It is in these respects, however, that he is a perfect example of the diversity of personality types that find their way into MMA. Most, if not all of us, possess the instincts required to fight if necessary and Joe is proof positive that if tapped into and cultivated, sometimes a warrior can be forged out of someone that might otherwise be fixing your computer. Turn to page 54 to find out how similar Joe may be to you, and to also see what makes him a special standout in one of the UFC’s most suffocating divisions.

And speaking of suffocating, the UFC’s recent visit to Denver always gets people talking about the difficulties of fighting in such thin air. This month Joel Jamieson tackles the complex subject of altitude training to find out just how much mile high venues can affect a fighter’s abilities to perform and whether or not training at altitude is all it’s cracked up to be. Turn to page 92 to discover if sleeping in a hypobaric chamber or running up mountainous peaks is the missing component in your quest to maximize your fitness.